Since Mike Woodson took over coaching the Knicks have gone 17-6. I know that the Heat have beaten the Knicks three times this season already but in their last match up I think the Knicks figured a few things out. Carmelo Anthony dropped 42 points that game and held LeBron to 29 points on 11 of 24 shooting (45.8%). James was 1-6 from downtown and as long as Melo stays out of foul trouble he presents the biggest obstacle for James. The Knicks are a taller team that have better rebounding numbers than the Heat but the Heat do score more and play better defensively in terms of points allowed. The Heat have continued to struggle offensively against a 2-3 zone defense.

Knicks AdvantagesThey have a better bench with J.R. Smith, Steve Novak, and Jared Jeffries compared to the Heat's best bench players of Norris Cole, Mike Miller, and Shane Battier. I feel that Novak could be the key swing player in the entire series. If Novak heats up from downtown he can score bunches of points in limited minutes. J.R. Smith can come in at any point and light up the score board. On March 14th Smith hit seven 3's, on April 17th he hit another seven 3's and he also had 9 other games in which he had at least three 3 pointers.

Heat AdvantagesLebron James is the best player on the planet for the first three quarters. With James, Wade and Bosh the big 3 are much better than Carmelo, Stoudemire, and Chandler or any combination of players the Knicks have to offer. The Heat pride themselves on defense and matching up LeBron on Anthony will force the Knickerbockers to look elsewhere for points. Dwayne Wade also seems to have a favorable match up going against Iman Shumpert. Another advantage the Heat will have is the absence of All Star point guard Jeremy Lin.

If I was a betting man I wouldn't bet against the Heat but if the Knicks pull off this upset I wouldn't be the least bit surprised. If Woodson can lead his Knicks pass the Heat he will almost ensure his job for next season. Be sure to hit me on twitter @Awies28